Mexico 'remaking' itself, Obama tells students

Los Angeles Times 
By Kathleen Hennessey and Tracy Wilkinson
May 3, 2013

Mexico City -- President Obama painted a sunny picture of a modern, “emerging” Mexico in a speech before an audience of young people Friday, his second day of a three-day swing through Latin America.

Speaking at the National Museum of Anthropology, the president expressed optimism about the push for reforms led by the new administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto and called on young people to be persistent.

“You honor your heritage, thousands of years old, but you are also part of something new, a nation that’s in the process of remaking itself,” Obama said, speaking in a central courtyard of the iconic museum with Mexican and American flags hanging behind him. “And as our modern world changes around us, it is the spirit of young people, your optimism and idealism, that will drive the world forward.”

The president’s message of a rising Mexico serves both his and his counterpart’s domestic agendas. Obama is pushing for immigration reform, and is seeking to reassure skeptics at home that the root causes of illegal immigration – poverty, violence and corrupt institutions in Mexico – are easing under new leadership.  Read more. 

President Obama's Mexico visit comes with backdrop of uncertainty

Los Angeles Times
By Shashank Bengali and Tracy Wilkinson
April 28, 2013

WASHINGTON — President Obama travels to Mexico this week amid signs that the relationship between the United States and its southern neighbor's new government faces a new period of uncertainty after years of unprecedented closeness forged by the deadly war against Mexican drug cartels.

The government of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is said to be wary of the level of U.S. involvement in security affairs that characterized the administration of his predecessor, Felipe Calderon. As a result, the Mexican government is expected to narrow U.S. involvement in its attorney general's office and Interior Ministry, the agencies that oversee police and intelligence, current and former U.S. and Mexican officials say.

Instead, Peña Nieto and officials from his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, want to concentrate U.S. participation in less sensitive but potentially profitable areas such as the economy.  Read more. 

Another domino in Mexico's collapsing drug prosecutions

Retired Gen. Tomas Angeles, freed from prison with charges dropped, says his arrest was political. His was the second high-profile Calderon-era case in as many days to be dismissed.

Los Angeles Times

By Tracy Wilkinson
April 20, 2013

Gen. Tomas Angeles Dauahare, who once held the plum post of military attache to the Mexican Embassy in Washington, was rumored to be the next defense minister of Mexico.

Until that day in May last year when he and three other top military men were arrested on suspicion of working on behalf of a notorious drug cartel.

It was the largest indictment of army officers on charges of drug-trafficking in recent memory, hailed in many quarters as proof of then-President Felipe Calderon's determination to root out corruption at every level.

But one night last week, Angeles stepped from the Altiplano maximum-security prison, all charges dropped.  Read more. 

Body-snatchers in Mexico?

I've been hearing a lot of off-the-record reports from journalist friends about a editorial board pressures to stop reporting on deaths. The general line is that government wants to show some progress (although Peña Nieto has now asked for a year to decrease the violence) and so the easiest way to reduce the figures is to stop counting.

This article could be part of that new tendency. The disappearance of bodies, suppression of the press, local officials encouraged to under-count-all; this bodes ill for those of us trying to track the drug war.

Miami Herald 
By Christopher Sherman
Associated Press

Reynosa, Mexico -- Heavy gunfire echoed along the main thoroughfare and across several neighborhoods in a firefight that lasted for hours, leaving perforated and burned vehicles scattered across the border city.

Social media exploded with reports of dozens dead. Witnesses saw at least 12.

But the hours of intense gun battles in Reynosa on March 10 gave way to an official body count the next day of a head-scratching two.

The men who handle the city's dead insist the real figure is upward of 35, likely even more than 50. Ask where those bodies are and they avert their eyes and shift in their seats.

Cartel members, they say, are retrieving and burying their own casualties.

"Physically, there are no bodies," said Ramon Martinez, director of Funerales San Jose in Reynosa, who put the toll at between 40 and 50. "It's very delicate."

If Reynosa is an example, even the government can't count how many are dying from drug violence. The Felipe Calderon government stopped counting in September 2011. Since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office Dec. 1, the government has issued monthly statistics, saying that January killings were down slightly from December, and that February saw the lowest number of killings in 40 months - without providing numbers for the other 39 months.

Mexico unveils new strategy in war on drugs and for preventing crime

The Guardian 
February 13, 2013

Mexico's new administration has offered the first details of its new strategy in the country's war on drugs, saying the government will spend $9.2bn (£5.9bn) this year on social programmes to keep young people from joining criminal organisations in the 251 most violent towns and neighbourhoods across the country.

The government will flood those areas with spending on programmes ranging from road building to increasing school hours, President Enrique Peña Nieto and Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, the interior secretary, told an audience in the central state of Aguascalientes.

"It's clear that we must put special emphasis on prevention, because we can't only keep employing more sophisticated weapons, better equipment, more police, a higher presence of the armed forces in the country as the only form of combating organised crime," Peña Nieto said.  Read more. 

Mexico's President Alters Tactics Against Drug Crimes

NPR, by Carrie Kahn

Mexico's new attorney general says there are now 60 to 80 drug cartels operating in the country, a sharp rise from the 10 that existed when outgoing President Calderon took office in 2006. President Enrique Pena Nieto says he wants to go after crime associated with drug trafficking instead of taking down crime bosses. Listen to the story. 

U.S. cities become hubs for Mexican drug cartels’ distribution networks

The Washington Post By Sari Horwitz, Published: November 3

CHICAGO — A few miles west of downtown, past a terra-cotta-tiled gateway emblazoned with “Bienvenidos,” the smells and sights of Mexico spill onto 26th Street. The Mexican tricolor waves from brick storefronts. Vendors offer authentic churros, chorizo and tamales.

Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood is home to more than 500,000 residents of Mexican descent and is known for its Cinco de Mayo festival and bustling Mexican Independence Day parade. But federal authorities say that Little Village is also home to something else: an American branch of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel.

Members of Mexico’s most powerful cartel are selling a record amount of heroin and methamphetamine from Little Village, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. From there, the drugs are moving onto the streets of south and west Chicago, where they are sold in assembly-line fashion in mostly African American neighborhoods.

“Chicago, with 100,000 gang members to put the dope on the street, is a logistical winner for the Sinaloa cartel,” Jack Riley, the DEA’s special agent in charge of the Chicago field division, said after a tour through Little Village. “We have to operate now as if we’re on the Mexican border.”  Read more. 

Mexico’s president says homicides down 15 percent to 20 percent in first half of 2012

Outgoing president Calderón said yesterday that compared to the same first six months of last year, this year, homicides have decreased by 15 to 20 percent. He claims again that his "decapitation" anti-cartel strategy is working, and denies that violence has been caused by government actions. 

AP: MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Felipe Calderon said homicides in Mexico dropped 15 percent to 20 percent in the first six months of this year compared to the same period of 2011, according to an interview published Sunday by the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

Calderon said 2011 had proved “a climactic point” in drug-related killings, though he did not cite specific figures. Read more.
Posted by Ryan Gentzler. 

Bloody war on drugs isn't working, admits Mexico's presidential front-runner Enrique Peña Nieto

Independent: Less than three weeks from voting day in Mexico's increasingly tense presidential contest, front-runner Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is signalling he would throttle back on the state's militarised assault on the drug cartels in hopes of lowering violence across the country.

His comments coincided with the last of two televised debates on Sunday which was preceded by a raucous march through downtown Mexico City by an estimated 90,000 protesters, many of them students dedicated to blocking his and the PRI's path to victory on 1 July. Read more. 

Candidates in Mexico Signal a New Tack in the Drug War

This article would be good if it were accurate. We at the Americas Program have been monitoring closely the views of the major candidates on the drug war and although it is easy to find a few comments regarding the need to devote more attention to the root causes of the violence (even the U.S. State Department--a staunch promoter of the drug war-- does this), both Peña Nieto and Vázquez Mota have repeatedly affirmed their commitment to toeing the line (what Peña Nieto might actually do in office is a different matter.) López Obrador presents the closest to a paradigm shift, stressing the need to address poverty and inequality, and offering to remove the army from the streets as soon as the police are adequately trained (not something we see happening in the short term, given the high levels of corruption and complicity). Nor is it correct to say that the US government is remaining neutral--Under-Secretary Brownfield and others have explicitly voiced their strong desire to see a new government continue with the present strategy and levels of military and police cooperation in counternarcotics efforts, despite the counterproductive impact so far.

The most interesting thing about this article is the comments section--be sure to take a look at the many informed and thoughtful comments, which weigh in overwhelmingly against the war on drugs model.

NYT The top three contenders for Mexico’s presidency have all promised a major shift in the country’s drug war strategy, placing a higher priority on reducing the violence in Mexico than on using arrests and seizures to block the flow of drugs to the United States.

The candidates, while vowing to continue to fight drug trafficking, say they intend to eventually withdraw the Mexican Army from the drug fight. They are concerned that it has proved unfit for police work and has contributed to the high death toll, which has exceeded 50,000 since the departing president, Felipe Calderón, made the military a cornerstone of his battle against drug traffickers more than five years ago.  Read more.

Drug War Politics: New E.U. Diplomatic Leader Reaffirms Plans to Strengthen Strategic Partnership with Mexico, Increase Support to Anti-Drug Trafficking Efforts « Justice in Mexico

Justice in Mexico: "In a Mexico City press conference last week, the European Union (E.U.) reaffirmed its commitment to its Strategic Partnership with Mexico, pledging increased support for anti-drug and human rights efforts. E.U. Vice-President and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton spoke during what has been her first tour of Latin America since taking office. She visited Mexico on her way to Brazil." read more

Drug War Politics: Vazquez Mota promises tough line in Mexican drugs war

ReutersAlertNet: "Bidding to become Mexico's first female president, ruling party candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota has vowed to protect families from the fallout of a drugs war that has killed about 50,000 people in the last five years.

... Vazquez Mota was not thought to be President Felipe Calderon's preferred candidate in the PAN primary race but she has been a firm supporter of his policies, and has promised to continue his campaign against powerful drug gangs. "There will be no truce, no surrender, to organized crime," she told a cheering crowd of thousands of supporters on a campaign stop in the central state of Tlaxcala on Friday." read more

Drug War Politics: Obama Just Says No to Answering Drug Prohibition Questions

Border Lines: "Today YouTube ignored a question advocating marijuana legalization from a retired LAPD deputy chief of police that won twice as many votes as any other video question in the White House's "Your Interview with the President" competition on the Google-owned site. They did, however, find the time to get the president on record about late night snacking, singing and dancing, celebrating wedding anniversaries and playing tennis." read more

Drug War: Mexico Secretary of Interior says, "The country is not at war, nor can one speak of an armed conflict"

Hum? How does this line up with statistics released today by the Attorney Generals Office that there were 12, 903 deaths between January and the end of September, 2011,which could put the total for the year at 17,294. The official total for 2010 was 15,273. That would mean a 13.3% increase in deaths. 

We are reminded, once again, of the advice to "take out the 'not'" when politicians speak of supposed realities.

La Jornada: "Mexico is not at war and it does not meet the criteria of international law for an armed conflict. derived from the national strategy for public safety and combating organized crime groups, the Interior Minister, Alejandro Poire, said while inaugurating the Forum on Security with Legality, in Xalapa, Veracruz.

He said that the federal government has developed a comprehensive and repsonsible strategy to strengthen  the rule of law throughout the country, to ensure that all citizens can fully exercise their rights and freedoms and also, of course, to bring all offenders to justice.

He rejected criticism about individual rights being violated by the armed forces in fighting organized crime, and noted that the abuses documented by the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) are minimal and are the exception, not the rule.  Poiré reported that, according to the CNDH report, from 2007 to 2011 5,814 complaints were received against elements of the Secretariat of National Defense. He said that in only 90 cases was sufficient evidence found to make a recommendation, which represents 1.5 percent of total complaints. In the case of the Navy Department recommendations have only issued in 1.8 percent of cases.

The head of domestic government affairs also refuted the arguments that rates of insecurity and violence have soared when federal forces are present in regions where state and local governments have asked for support. He said, to the contrary, "thanks to the intervention of federal forces in joint operations, there has been a significant and specific reduction in violence and insecurity in those regions where our actions have achieved greater operational maturity."

He said that between 2010 and 2011 in Tijuana, Baja California, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, there have been decreases of  87 percent and 70 percent, respectively, in the incidence of homicide, and the regions of Veracruz and Laguna region, similar declines have been registered  in the commission of crimes." Spanish original

Drug War Politics: Majority of Mexicans Would Accept the Sending of U.S. Agents

Translated by MexicoBlog

El Universal: A survey taken by the Mexican Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE) found that 57% of Mexicans would accept help from the U.S. in fighting the drug cartels, including the sending of U.S. personnel into Mexican territory. Spanish original

Drug War Politics: Latin American leaders assail U.S. drug ‘market’

This article presents a good review of recent calls by Latin American presidents for the US to re-evaluate its drug policy. While its lead speaks of "disgust for U.S. drug consumers," it goes on to present the leaders' call for considering "market alternatives" to take profits away from the drug cartels.

Washington Post: "Latin American leaders have joined together to condemn the U.S. government for soaring drug violence in their countries, blaming the United States for the transnational cartels that have grown rich and powerful smuggling dope north and guns south.

Alongside official declarations, Latin American governments have expressed growing disgust for U.S. drug consumers — both the addict and the weekend recreational user heedless to the misery and destruction paid for their pleasures." read more

Drug Money Laundering: Lawmakers to Open Inquiry on Undercover D.E.A. Operation

NYTimes.com: "Congressional Republicans said Monday that they would open an investigation into undercover operations by the Drug Enforcement Administration in which agents have laundered and smuggled millions of dollars in drug money as part of an effort to help Mexico fight organized crime.

... Representative Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, (which has been investigating the "gun walking" Fast and Furious operation), said in a letter on Monday to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., ...  that he would expand that investigation to include the drug agency, describing its money-laundering investigations as “dangerous schemes” and adding that “the consequences have been disastrous.”" read more

Drug War Strategy: The Nontraditional, Traditional Drug Threat and Drug War

Border Lines: "The commander of the U.S. Southern Command warns that the U.S. is facing a “nontraditional threat” from the south in the form of “transnational organized crime.” Commander Douglas Fraser joined the chorus of military and administration officials warning of the new threat of transnational criminal organizations, and declared: “We’re trying to move our defense further and further from our border.”

Southcom’s relationship with nations in its region, the general added, “provides us with stability and security on our southern flank and that’s in our interest, [and] it improves the economic vitality of the region and our ability to trade with one another.”

It is not at all clear, however, that the U.S.-led drug war that Southcom has supported over the past four decades has been in the best interests of the region.

... There’s bipartisan support for escalating the drug war in the form of a new bill titled “Targeting Transnational Drug Traffic king Act of 2011” that expands the reach of the Justice Department in pursuing individuals who directly or indirectly involved in operations that export illegal drugs into the United States." read more

The U.S. border and immigration reform

A look at the U.S. debate over border security from a German point of view

Reuters: "Take your pick. Cities and towns on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico are among the safest in the country. Or: Mexican drug gangs have turned the longest stretch of the 2,000-mile border, the line between Texas and Mexico, into a war zone.

The first version is President Barack Obama’s. He has crime statistics on his side. The second comes from an alarmist 182-page report by two retired generals, including former drug czar Barry McCaffrey. Among their assertions: “Living and conducting business in a Texas border county is tantamount to living in a war zone in which civil authorities, law enforcement agencies as well as citizens are under attack around the clock.”

(True enough for large parts of Mexican territory south of the border, where more than 42,000 people have died since President Felipe Calderon declared war on drug mafias five years ago.)

The stark contrast between the two versions speaks volumes about the war of words generated by the issues of immigration and border security during an election campaign."

Border Politics: Rick Perry's Border Populism Betrays His Love of "Big Government"

Border Lines: "For Perry, like most right-wing populists, big government is bad government when it regulates and redistributes. Yet when government enforces, when it secures, the more government the better.
When our tax revenues support the new security trinity -- border security, homeland security, and national security – Perry is a professed and proven advocate of big government.

Nor will you find Rick Perry criticizing big government when it involves funding cracking down on crime and drugs. In Texas, state government has expanded into new dimensions and grown new tentacles. In the name of border security, Perry has overseen the creation of an array of new fusion centers, intelligence centers, drug task forces, and criminal data exchanges in Texas." read more